


Overwhelming

by RebaK1tten



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Courting Rituals, First Kiss, M/M, Magic Stiles, Mutual Pining, Steter Secret Santa 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 21:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17088044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: Stiles wants Peter, but his plans to formally court him don't go very well.Happy Holidays, Bunnywest!





	Overwhelming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bunnywest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnywest/gifts).



Stiles isn’t sure when his feelings about Peter changed. At some point over the years he went from hate and fear to respect and then to actual affection. Maybe a little too much affection.

It’s not his bro-affection like with Scott. Or the remnants of his crush on Lydia. Or even the affection he feels for the other packmates. After all, he’s learned to tolerate Isaac, but doesn’t want to spend his free time curled up on the couch next to him watching Ghost Adventures and making fun of Zak.

And maybe Peter likes him a little bit, too. He does let Stiles borrow his books, even letting him take a few of them home. There’s some he won’t let out of his sight, not because they’re so valuable, but because some are so old and fragile he keeps them in special boxes when they’re not used, and they both wear gloves when looking at them. Looking at them in Peter’s apartment, a place that not all the pack knows about.

They know he lives somewhere, of course, because everyone lives somewhere. But Derek seems to be the only other pack member who knows where Peter lives and Stiles is the one who took him there. Peter may not have been happy about it, but after a swarm of fairies attacked him, he needed help getting home to recover. Fairies are horrible.

“How do you know where Peter lives?” Derek asks, carrying his uncle into the bedroom, after Stiles points the way.

“How does his alpha not know?” Stiles asks, what seems like the obvious question.

“How do you both keep talking?” Peter asks before he passes out. Also a good question.

 

So Stiles is the one who takes care of Peter, who keeps an eye on him and who grows to respect him. Honestly, if someone had attacked his family the way the Hales had been attacked, he can’t say he’d do anything different. The thought of his father and mother and imaginary siblings killed, burned to death? Yeah, he’d torch the world to avenge them. What Peter did makes sense to him. Peter makes sense to him. Peter is smart and loyal and strong and… and yes, Peter is someone that Stiles understands, someone he wants to know more about. Someone he thinks – well, he thinks Peter could be the one Stiles wants to be with. Like THE ONE. Now, how does he make that happen?

 

It’s in the books that Peter’s lent to him. Stiles knows that, just like he knows that Peter doesn’t lend his books to everyone. He’s lent them to Stiles for things he wants Stiles to know. He wants him to know how to protect himself and the pack. He wants Stiles to know about spells, potions and runes. He wants him to know about werewolf customs and their history. He wants Stiles to know all the important things.

“Okay, it’s in here somewhere. Werewolf customs, and I know I read about mating ceremonies and I think just before that…” Stiles flips pages, quickly but carefully, looking for the information he knows is in front of him. “Here we go, courtship rituals. Damn wolves, rituals for everything.”

There’s several chapters, and Stiles skims through all of them, finally settling on one section to read. “Humans courting Werewolves. Okay, Peter, prepare your fuzzy ass for some serious wooing.”

 

What he learns isn’t great, but it’s something he can work with. After all, he’s used to being the squishy, delicate human. Squishy, delicate humans who are trying to win the attention of a big, strong werewolf shouldn’t overstep or be too showy. It’s not just because they’re squishy and delicate, but the expectation is they won’t have the same resources as a wolf pack and since humans are so obviously below werewolves, their gifts should reflect that.

First things first though. According to the book, he needs permission from his alpha to court Peter. “Derek is so going to love this.”

 

“What?”

“What are you not understanding, Derek, I’m being as plain as I can be.” Stiles paces in front of the sofa, keeping his eyes on the stunned alpha. “I like your uncle, as more than a friend. I want to ask him out and spend time with him and hopefully know him biblically. Are you okay with that?”

“I never want to know what you want to do with Peter. You’re not allowed to discuss that or… think about it around people. You probably shouldn’t think about that when you’re by yourself either.”

“That ship’s sailed and no, you won’t get details, so relax.” Stiles sits next to Derek, close enough to touch his arm, suppressing his smile when Derek twitches. Such a tough werewolf. “So. I’m courting your uncle, you’re good with that, right, alpha?”

Derek sighs, shaking his head, like the sad little wolfie he is. “Why are you doing this?”

“I like him,” Stiles says simply, because it’s simple. “He’s smart and he, like, he protects me. I don’t know if he’s really thinking about protecting _me_ or just the fragile human, but…” He slumps on the couch, trying to figure out how to explain this because he knows he’s going to have to. Explain it to Scott, and Lydia and oh god, explain this mess to his father. “He gets me things he thinks I’ll need for magic training I’m doing. He lends me his books, Derek, and you know how he feels about his books.”

Nodding, Derek says, “Yeah, the children he never had a chance to drown. I thought that you had one of his books.” Derek studies him until Stiles is the one twitching. “You’re sure about this? You know if he accepts your suit, you know what this means?”

“Yeah, alpha, I can read. I’m reading. I know what I’m asking for and it’s a good thing, it’s right.” He thinks a moment more, but can’t really verbalize why he and Peter make sense without sounding a bit too homicidal. “You know, I get him and he gets me, too. It’s weird, but I think it could work.”

“I think it could, too.” Derek shakes his head, looking sad instead of angry. “It worries me.”

Stiles grins, because this is getting too serious and he’s not ready to discuss any details with Derek. “And he’s hot, too.”

Derek growls and lets his eyes flash. “Stiles, there’s no way I want to talk about you and my uncle being intimate. I walked in on him once and there’s not enough brain bleach to erase that vision.”

“Care to provide details?”

“Get out,” Derek commands, pushing Stiles off the couch. “Good luck, but leave before I start having flashbacks.”

 

Stiles studies the books Peter gave him, paying special attention to the information on courting rituals. There’s a lot of information on courting between betas, and courting between different packs. How to impress a human with special gifts or what to give to an emissary. The main thing he’s looking at is how a human should court a beta wolf.

“Okay, this sounds easy. I need to give a gift from the elements, so that’s water, fire, air or earth.” He sits back and stares at the book, hoping it’ll tell him what to do. “Okay, so we’re going to say that fire is out for obvious reasons, not very much of a Peter gift. Air? Balloon?”

He shakes his head to clear it and pulls up Google, hand hovering over the keyboard, still unsure what to type. “Water and earth. Can I get him a plant? No, because I’m supposed to get him a plant I’ve grown to show I can take care of him and understand the land. Or something like that.”

The answer comes to him an hour later while re-watching Sherlock on Netflix. “Tea! It’s from the earth ‘cause it’s a plant and there’s water. Peter likes tea. I’ll get him really good tea and make it with really good water.”

He spends ten more minutes looking at teas online, picking a jasmine white tea and ordering it with overnight shipping on Prime. “This might suck. God, I hope this doesn’t suck. Or at least that Peter gets it.”

 

A few days later, Stiles goes to the loft to research the latest baddie in Beacon Hills. It’s not ideal, but it works; Derek doesn’t have the most elegant kitchen in the world, (he doesn’t have the most elegant anything) but he does have an electric kettle and that’ll work.

“Hey, Peter, I found this tea and thought you’d like it.” He puts the mug in front of the wolf. It’s fixed the way Stiles knows he likes it, with a little less than a teaspoon of honey in it. “Try it, let me know what you think.”

Peter looks at him and then at the cup and then at him again, making Stiles sigh.

“It’s not poison,” he says, nudging the cup towards the wolf. “Hey, if you don’t want it…”

“No, I’ll take it, you just surprised me; I didn’t realize you knew my habits so well.” He sniffs at it, shutting his eyes with a sigh of his own. “With honey. Thank you.”

“Local honey, I got it from the Farmer’s Market. Bottled water and loose leaves. Do you like it?”

Peter sighs again and takes another sip, smiling one of his rare, genuine smiles. “It’s very good, thank you. By the way, I made sandwiches. They’re in the kitchen; I hid them in the oven.”

“The ham ones I like?” He asks, already heading in that direction. Peter’s sandwiches are awesome, he introduced Stiles to goat cheese, but for some reason only the one that Peter provides tastes good to him.

“Of course. I’m glad you like them, even if I didn’t actually kill and roast the pig myself.”

“Ha! I’ve eaten your pulled pork, so I know you can cook.” He puts a couple on a plate for himself and some for Peter as well. As well as bringing in the pot of hot water to make sure Peter has more tea if he wants it.

“Thank you, Stiles, much appreciated,” Peter says, nodding as Stiles refills the empty cup.

Okay, mission accomplished. Hopefully. If Peter understands.

 

The next step, the next item in the courtship takes a little more time. Stiles needs to give Peter a plant, something he’s grown. It’ll show his connection to the earth, to the lands on which the wolves run. Or something like that, the books are old and frankly, it’s not easy to figure out what they’re saying.

But he’s done a bit of research on plants that germinate quickly and he decides on Morning Glories. They grow quickly and they have really pretty flowers and he can get the seeds from the local hardware store, which isn’t very romantic or magical, but he’s working on the courtship stuff and this gets the job done.

 

Except it doesn’t. Stiles goes to Peter’s apartment, plant in a little pot in a small bag. He’s expected; the pack is out chasing god knows what and Peter’s said he can come over.

“Hey, Creeper Wolf.” Stiles lets himself in since Peter leaves his apartment door unlocked when Stiles is coming over. It’s either really trusting or further proof that the werewolf doesn’t fear mere mortals. Or maybe it’s the werewolf trying to pretend that he doesn’t fear mortals, because he does. Or maybe he’s trying to pretend that he’s pretending that he’s not afraid of mortals so Stiles will come over and… This could get too confusing.

“Hey, Little Red,” Peter calls back, looking up from the book he’s studying. He’s in the living room, sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa and his feet under the coffee table.

He looks relaxed and comfortable in his pale blue Henley, and Stiles feels a twinge in his chest because he knows he wants this every day. “Hey. Oh I said that already.” Sitting on the floor next to Peter reading and maybe other stuff. Definitely other stuff.

Peter grins, looking smug and Stiles is sure Peter knows what he’s thinking based on his stink alone. “No problem. Come on in, I have something for you.”

“Wow, I have something for you, too.” He puts the bag down on the coffee table, reaching in and pulling out the small pot. “I, um, I grew this for you. From a seed. Several seeds.” He pushes the pot towards Peter, sitting on the edge of the coffee pot. “I took the seeds and you make a little nick in them and you soak them and these guys sprouted like this in just a few days. I thought you’d like them, they’re Morning Glories, they’ll make a climbing vine with really pretty trumpet-shaped flowers, in all kind of colors and… Why are you frowning, Peter?”

“You’ve given me a pot of Morning Glories, Stiles?” Peter’s face is cold, closed off, in a way he hasn’t been to Stiles in years.

“Yes? I grew them myself to give to you. In a pot of dirt from the yard,” Stiles answers, pushing them a little closer. “Any comments?”

Sighing, Peter gets up and goes towards the kitchen, taking a package off the counter top. “I got this for you,” he says holding it out. “Take it.”

Stiles takes the package, unwrapping it and letting the plain, brown paper fall to the floor as he realizes what he’s holding. “Peter! This is that book we talked about, the history, the French hunter guy! I can’t wait to read this when you’ve finished it.”

“I’m not finishing it, Stiles, it’s yours. You asked about it and we researched it and I got it for you. So take it and leave, please.”

“Leave?” Stiles puts down the book and tries to walk in front of Peter, who turns around, trying to keep his back to Stiles. “Hey, Peter, what’s up? I mean, the book is great and I love it, but what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Apparently I misunderstood and…” He sighs, shaking his head. “Enjoy the book, Stiles. Thank you for the tea, by the way.”

“I got you some more, because I thought you liked it. And the plant, I grew it for you, specifically for you, Peter.” He looks at the pot, and smiles, thinking it looks a little bigger since it’s been by Peter. Maybe it likes him. “I think I did something wrong?”

“No, you did nothing wrong. You’ve just made things clear, thank you.” He looks at the pot, poking gently at one of the little plants. Peter picks up the container of tea, carefully walking around Stiles into the kitchen, plugging in the electric kettle. “I’m sure Lydia can help you with any French translation you need.”

“I thought we’d do it together, the two of us,” Stiles says, knowing that he’s whining, but unable to stop himself. “We’re both interested in it, right?”

Peter shakes his head, not turning around. “Well, I don’t think we’re both interested in the same things at all, Stiles. Thank you for coming over, enjoy your book. I’m sure you can see yourself out.”

 

Stiles goes back to his books, trying to figure out where he went wrong. The new book Peter gave him will have to wait, it’s not nearly as important as trying to find out what happened. After a bit more reading the only thing he can come up with is Peter simply doesn’t feel the same way. He rejected the plant because Stiles misread his feelings.

Which maybe Derek should have told him about? If Derek knew, but of course maybe he didn’t because it’s not like he and Peter are best buddies. Yes, Peter’s in Derek’s pack now, and Derek understands why he did what he did to Laura. He’s not necessarily forgiven him, but he understands and that’s enough, especially since Peter’s told him he understands what happened with Kate. Peter’s told him repeatedly that what happened was on Kate, not on Derek; Stiles has been there when Peter’s said it.

But Peter feeds him and gets him books and spends time with him and that _seems_ like he likes-likes him. It’s courting things from a wolf, it says right in the same book that Peter lent to him. Which doesn’t make sense if Peter likes him, unless Peter’s just trying to take care of pack and encourage him as emissary in training.

After another hour or so of reading and pacing, that’s the only thing he can come up with. Peter likes him as a pack mate and is encouraging his learning, but he’s not attracted to him, not the same way that Stiles likes him.

How humiliating. How fucking humiliating.

 

It seems they’re both avoiding each other and Stiles misses their time together. Yes, a lot of it’s research for whatever monster might be in town or planning treaties with other packs, but sometimes they just meet for coffee or lunches. Peter introduced Stiles to Burmese food, driving over an hour away to make sure Stiles got a taste of what Peter considers the best available. He misses that and wonders if Peter might miss it, too, at least a little.

No one can keep up with their conversations, no one matches their snark. Well, except maybe Lydia.

And Lydia should be at the pack meeting coming up, meaning Stiles will get to talk with someone and at least look at Peter, like the pathetic, lovelorn thing he is. Because the only thing better than a little fucking humiliation, is a lot of fucking humiliation.

 

There’s really no emergency for tonight’s pack meeting, so it’s just updates to what’s going on and then massive quantities of Chinese take-out and Netflix. Peter does this thing where he’s polite, but distant to Stiles. He’s really no warmer to anyone else, but Stiles is used to being treated better than the masses.

Stiles in the kitchen getting another helping of potstickers when Lydia corners him. “What’s going on with you two? You and Peter, you’re both acting strangely.”

“No we’re not,” Stiles answers immediately, because while he wants to talk with someone smart and funny and sassy, maybe Lydia’s not the person he wants to talk with – especially not about whatever’s going on with Peter.

She tilts her head, looking at him as though he’s something on a slide under a microscope. “Yes, Stiles. Yes, you are both acting quite odd. You’re normally next to him most of the pack meeting and normally he’d be trying to slip extra food onto your plate, while you try to pretend not to notice. Instead, you’re on one side of the room and he’s back on the staircase watching everyone. He hasn’t been doing the staircase thing for nearly two years, so it’s a step backwards. No one, Stiles, no one wants to see Peter taking steps backwards. So what happened?”

“Nothing. Nothing happened.” Stiles feels himself deflate, and slides down the cabinets until he’s on the floor in the corner. “Abso-fucking-lutely nothing happened, I tried to make something happen, but Peter just shut me down. He gave me a book we’d been talking about and then he kicked me out. After I gave him tea and a plant I’d grown from a seed. And he kicked me out.”

Lydia isn’t someone who sits on the floor, but she pulls a kitchen chair closer and settles on it, smoothing her skirt out around her. “I’d need more information on exactly what happened, but I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. You like him. He likes you. I don’t know why you like him, he’s an awful person, but of course I’m not the one who wants to marry him and have his homicidal babies.”

“Lyds! I’m not saying that, and be quiet, there’s…” He points at his ears and then the room beyond them. “Nosy wolves out there.” He sits up, leaning towards her. “You think he likes me though? You’re _sure_ of this? Why are you sure of it?”

“Because I’m not blind and everyone knows. Derek told me that he’s told Peter to get off his ass and ask you out. The only one in denial is Scott, but then again…” She shrugs, and says, “He’s Scott, he thinks he can protect you from the evils in the world, like Peter.”

“I _am_ one of the evils of the world!” Stiles hisses back, hoping they still have a little privacy. “Or at least I’m not afraid of the evils of the world. And Peter’s not evil. Not really.”

She holds her hands out in front of her, eyes wide. “Hey, I believe you, or I believe you believe that. I’m just telling you what Scott thinks and what everyone else knows. Peter has a major crush on you and you have a crush on him and today the two of you are obviously keeping clear of each other. So what did you do, Stiles?”

“Why do you automatically assume I did something? It could have been him. In fact, it was him. I gave him a courting gift and he gave me a book and kicked me out of his apartment!”

Lydia cross her arms, lips pursed as she stares at him, trying to work this through. “Okay, you have me. I don’t know enough about werewolf courting rituals to help, and nor do I want to; I’m done with werewolves. But obviously, the thing to do is to talk with him. With your words.” She stands and holds out a hand until he takes it and lets her help pull him up. She’s tiny but strong.

“Facing a problem head on, Lydia? God, you people expect so much of me.” He shoves some food into his mouth, chewing loudly while ignoring her. “He’s just going to walk away from me and do the usual avoidance shit he’s done all day today. He hates me, Lyds.”

“I’ll talk with him and tell him he needs to talk with you. I brought him back into this world, and if I can’t take him out of it, at least I can break his ear drums.”

 

Maybe it should be embarrassing, but he hides around a corner where he can almost listen while Lydia grills Peter. Sure, Peter can probably smell him and Scott shakes his head sadly when he leaves, but Stiles needs to hear what’s going on. If Peter tells Lydia that he’s absolutely not interested – that Stiles is a child or unattractive or whatever it is – he’ll be humiliated (again), but at least he’ll have an answer and maybe they can move on.

 

The next thing he knows, Peter’s in front of him arms crossed over his stupid pecs. “Lydia said you wanted to talk with me. Actually, Lydia said quite a few things, but this is actionable. What do you want to talk about, Stiles?”

Stiles tries to think what to ask or how to ask and what it should be that he asks. Great idea, but no plans set and this clearly needs a script. Right now, he kinda hates Lydia.

“Do you want to tell me about the plant?  You were so proud about growing it and gave it to me looking about as happy as I’ve seen you.”

He’s had enough, this isn’t getting any better. “Well, yeah, asshole, I grew it! I grew it from a seed in the earth from our territory. I told you that! You’re supposed to understand, you gave me the damn books, _you_ gave me books telling me how to court you!”

“Books?” Peter looks genuinely confused. “Which book told you to give me a Morning Glory? And you’re trying to court me? With a fucking Morning Glory?”

He grabs his backpack and pulls out one of the books Peter lent him. It’s wrapped up in cloth and in a plastic kitchen storage container to keep it safe. “This one! It said to give you things from the earth and and … plant stuff and I’m supposed to be showing you I’m worthy even though I’m only a lowly human and…”

Before he can finish his thoughts, Peter reaches out and slams him against a wall, holding him up by the neck, claws out enough so Stiles can feel them scratching against his throat. “Courting me like a human? That’s your excuse?”

Stiles can feel the buzz at the back of his head and based on Peter’s look of surprise, he’s pretty sure his eyes are doing their weird white glow. He noticed this only a few weeks ago and hasn’t shown it to the other pack members yet. These wolves get really sensitive about eye colors. “Don’t underestimate the human,” he snarls and pushes Peter off.

He meant to just push him off, and his jaw drops when he sees Peter flying across the room, breaking another of Derek’s walls.

After a few quiet seconds, Peter stands up, dusting himself off and carefully approaches Stiles, hands held up in surrender. “And that, darling, is why I didn’t recognize your courting gestures, although I did appreciate them.”

Stiles snorts. “You ignored them or made fun of me. Or in the case of the plant, kicked me out.”

“I didn’t recognize them for what they were supposed to be. If you’d offered gestures from a spark training to be an emissary…” he grins showing lots of teeth, bit of fang poking out.

“I’m a human and you’re a wolf, protector of our pack, Peter.” Stiles shakes his head, scent disappointed. “I’m just an ordinary, garden variety human and…”

Peter takes a step forward, cupping Stiles’ cheek with his hand, his thumb rubbing gently.

Stiles shuts his eyes, leaning into the touch.  

“You’re special, Stiles. You are anything but ordinary and I would be honored if you would let me court you. Or you can court me or we can court each other. Whichever makes you happy, because that’s what I want.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I’ve been trying to court you, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Stiles nods and grins, looking towards the table where he’s left the latest book. “Books and food and you’ve given me plants. I guess I like them more than you liked mine.”

“Stiles, my sweet, magical idiot.” Peter shakes his head, chuckling softly. “Do you not know what Morning Glories signify? You’re training to be an emissary, don’t you know the language of flowers?”

“Umm…” He thinks for a minute, because he _does_ know some flowers; it’s part of his training. “Maybe not that one specifically. From your reaction, I’m thinking it wasn’t something positive?”

“Love in vain. So you give me a flower that means love in vain, which I took to be telling me…”

“Stop being pushy, it’s never going to happen and fuck on off?” Stiles slumps against the wall, shutting his eyes. “Yeah, I can see that might not be a great message.” He holds a hand out to Peter, hoping his scent isn’t too desperate. “Do you want to try it? Courting? You and me?”

Peter takes his hand, kissing his wrist and barely nipping the pad of his thumb. “I think we can skip the beginning phases, as badly as they turned out. Let’s skip to the part where we spend time alone. Without a chaperone.”

“You’ve been reading ahead. Tell me, is this inappropriate?” Stiles asks, leaning forward and kissing Peter. It’s soft, not much more than a quick brush of their lips, but he can feel his cheeks turning warm.

“Perfect.” Peter raises an eyebrow. “Should we officially kick off our courtship with a date on Friday?”

“Sounds good. Will you be killing some poor, defenseless animal and leaving it on my bed? Isn’t that part of your wolfie courting? Catching dinner for your mate?”

“Do you want that?” Peter asks, looking way too happy about the thought.

“God, no! But dinner, yeah. That’ll be the animal offering.”

Stiles watches at Peter inhales, catching whatever scent it is that he gives off, hoping it’s something appealing. “Whatever you’d like, darling.”

“Nope, no way. Your turn to court me, wolf. Pick me up and take me to dinner, something appropriate for a spark, something I’d like. Woo me. Court me, Peter. Overwhelm me with everything you’ve got.” His grin is every bit as wolfish as Peter’s, just a few less teeth, although his sparking eyes more than make up for it.

“Darling, I can’t wait.”


End file.
